International

FOCAC 2015 Summit : China Fulfills All Commitments On Schedule

Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged 60 billion US dollars to Africa as grants, commercial loans and export credits for three years.

A head of the seventh Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, FOCAC summit next September in Beijing, China says it has fulfilled all its financing commitments made at the previous summit in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2015.

“We have fulfilled the 60 billion US dollars financing pledge to Africa for three years, though some projects of the 10 cooperation plans will continue into the next three years,” Jiang Wei, Director General of Western Asian and African Affairs in China’s Ministry of Commerce, recently told fellows of the China Africa Press Center in Beijing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping made the pledge at the last FOCAC summit. The 10 cooperation plans agreed at the summit have been effectively implemented, giving strong impetus to enhancing cooperation for a prosperous future. The 60 billion US dollars comprised grants, commercial loans and export credits, China-Africa Development Fund and special loans for the development of human resources, infrastructure and manufacturing.

“African governments have the willingness to improve livelihoods in their own countries. They are making efforts. Whether these efforts have been fully approved by their citizens, I am not sure… Under our cooperation, we need to improve these basic conditions in order to realise better efficiency,” Jiang Wei said in response to a question if African countries have also fulfilled their part of the commitment.

The basic conditions that form Africa’s FOCAC commitment are sound business climate, judicious management of funds, better policies for cash flow, tax incentives, security and conflict resolution. Thus, resolving or avoiding the overarching possibility of conflicts that often arise when investors begin work on the ground is an important litmus test.

“When investors go to Africa, initially they are welcomed. But when work begins on the ground, difficulties arise. This should be avoided,” Wang Yong, Vice President of CADFund, pointed out earlier at a forum in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

Winnie Natala Clubesokunda, Zambian Ambassador to China, called on Chinese investors to give Africans leadership roles in their companies on the continent, noting that the void makes it difficult for governments to manage arising conflicts.